The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) have called on Congress to support expanding the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction from $1.80 per square foot to $3.00 per square foot. A letter to Congressional members was co-signed by more than 50 organizations in the construction and environmental arenas. [...]

Daylighting is going mainstream and daylight harvesting, the energy-saving lighting control strategy that actually makes daylighting “sustainable,” is beginning to catch up. All automatic daylight harvesting control systems need a device that can measure light levels and signal a controller to dim or switch the lights in response to daylight contribution. This device is called [...]

Citing a more “hopeful state of world affairs” in relation to the twin threats posed by nuclear weapons and climate change, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the minute hand of its famous Doomsday Clock one minute away from midnight. It is now 6 minutes to midnight. The decision by the Bulletin of [...]

The California Lighting Technology Center Open House will be held at 633 Peña Drive in Davis, CA from 3PM to 7PM on January 20, 2010 to showcase the organization’s new facility, celebrate six years of operation, and introduce new staff members. Join CLTC for opening comments from its directors, funding partners and UC Davis leadership, [...]

Highlights of Int. No. 973: * Lighting systems in buildings larger than 50,000 gross sq.ft. (or buildings that combined with other buildings on same tax lot in total exceed 100,000 sq.ft.) must be upgraded * Deadline for upgrade is 1/1/2025 * Upgrade defined as meeting minimum requirements of New York City Energy Conservation Code * [...]

New York City has passed significant new legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing government, commercial and residential buildings in New York City. The six-point Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, introduced on Earth Day and enacted as part of PlaNYC, includes four bills that will dramatically reduce the City’s energy usage, saving consumers $700 million [...]

Talk about enlightenment … Designer Taikkun Li’s Prayer Wheel Energy Generator is a Tibetan prayer wheel that harvests mechanical energy (tourists spinning the wheel) to power LED street lighting. Check it out here or view the below video.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has announced consensus legislation–created with input from manufacturers, designers, energy advocates and utilities–that would set federal efficiency standards for pole-mounted outdoor lighting for the first time ever. This legislation creates three tiers for efficiency levels: · Tier 1, which becomes effective three years after enactment of the bill, sets [...]

According to the latest Department of Energy figures, the U.S. average commercial cost per kWh of electric energy to commercial end-users was 10.7 cents as of July 2009, down 3.5% from the same period in 2008. Get the latest energy data by state, region and end-user market here.